Electrically induced and detected Néel vector reversal in a collinear antiferromagnet

Antiferromagnets are enriching spintronics research by many favorable properties that include insensitivity to magnetic fields, neuromorphic memory characteristics, and ultra-fast spin dynamics. Designing memory devices with electrical writing and reading is one of the central topics of antiferromagnetic spintronics. So far, such a combined functionality has been demonstrated via 90° reorientations of the Néel vector generated by the current-induced spin orbit torque and sensed by the linear-response anisotropic magnetoresistance. Here we show that in the same antiferromagnetic CuMnAs films as used in these earlier experiments we can also control 180° Néel vector reversals by switching the polarity of the writing current. Moreover, the two stable states with opposite Néel vector orientations in this collinear antiferromagnet can be electrically distinguished by measuring a second-order magnetoresistance effect. We discuss the general magnetic point group symmetries allowing for this electrical readout effect and its specific microscopic origin in CuMnAs.

'Tipping the balance towards primary health care': managing change at the local level

This article addresses the problem of managing change at the local level, by focusing on the experience of the research and action project 'Tipping the Balance Towards Primary Health Care'. The experience of this project and case studies in other countries is abstracted. It includes some characteristics of the actors and forces under which local services operate, pointing to some opportunities and constraints in managing change and development, as well as organizational relationships in the field of primary health care. In this article it is argued that the ongoing structural reform is a necessary prerequisite, but it is not the unique key, for solving local health services problems. If the mission of the health sector is to satisfy the real and the perceived needs of the population, skilled professionals, appropriate technology, and enough financial resources must be allocated to the local level.